Fun In Leamington Spa

You will recall that I asked for contributions for the blog and StrippingTheIllusion member John Ridgely has responded with an interesting story about Leamington.....

A lap dancing club called 'Shades' was opened back in 2008 and was the first club of it's kind in Leamington. As someone who had first experienced a few clubs in Birmingham (mostly on stag do's), my friends and I welcomed this new club that is practically on our door step and had become a regular venue on our nights out in Leam. It is an excellent run club, a family type business with very down to earth management and lovely girls with great personality. It features the usual fully nude £20 private dances and non-nude pole dancing. It's a chilled out kind of place and I have never seen any trouble at all and low crime stats for Leamington too. However we just knew somehow that someone would have to spoil our fun!

Anyway there was never that much fuss when it first opened, a few people moaned about it but that was it. This was until last year when the council decided to adopt the new 'SEV' classification. When Shades applied for its licence last year, it got rejected, see link taken form the green party website which explains all (interestingly the unelected Green Party are one of the biggest objectors around here).

We were furious by this decision, especially with the reasons given, residential area? Proximity to a place of worship? They must having a laugh. (Please Google maps 'Wise Street Leamington Spa')
It was given till October last year to continue as a lap dancing club and now can only host the usual 11 events a year. The club has remained open as a late night bar and still gets the girls in once a month on a Saturday which I can never attend.

This year using a technicality it re-applied under the name of the owner instead of the club and lost 5 votes to 4 (see story here). I complained bitterly to the council about this decision, using the councils own sexual diversity policy against them, saying things like this is an attack on a persons sexuality and expression. I also asked them how the residential area claim would stand up in court which they declined to even defend.
A couple of weeks later, just around the corner (Court Street) another nightclub 'Amara' decided to get in on the act and applied to be a lap dancing club. Shock horror it got approved! even though it's an unknown quantity:
 .

Really don't know that much about this club and yet to hear if it has actually converted to a lap dancing club. I am not too optimistic about it to be honest. Following on from this, the local Rev and the Mayor Cllr Wilkinson have thrown their dolly out the pram and are now calling for a nil cap on all lap dancing clubs in Warwick District and they have made this lovely petition with all the classic rubbish arguments:

Now for the latest development, Shades has applied a 3rd time to try and get it's SEV licence:

So I will be writing yet another letter of support to the council but reckon it's all going to depend on which councillors attend the meeting. The Tories were all in favour of the last decision and Labour/ Lib Dem against. The main objectors around here are the Green Party, the church, and Mayor Cllr Wilkinson, not sure of any Object involvement unless they have faked letters pretending to be local residents?

I don't normally get involved in such issues but this has really annoyed me and I think it's time the silent majority started speaking out. I have been keeping a watch on what has been happening in other areas and it seems that Shades got a raw deal in comparison to other clubs which have mostly been approved.

Its a good article and confirms something that I warned people years ago would happen. Have you noticed that local religious figures are now getting in on the act. Almost certainly empowered by radical feminist campaigning models, we can now look forward to the local vicar interfering in anything that they don't approve of.


I think this situation merits further investigation and an article over the weekend.


Many thanks to John for his contribution